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For an example, we have a 2001 VW Jetta with nearly 400,000 miles that just recently started giving us some issues, (thus the reason for our purchasing our Ridgeline.) What is a realistic number of miles we can expect a Honda Ridgeline to do the same?

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For an example, we have a 2001 VW Jetta with nearly 400,000 miles that just recently started giving us some issues, (thus the reason for our purchasing our Ridgeline.) What is a realistic number of miles we can expect a Honda Ridgeline to do the same?

Actually you would have received the answer where 500,000 miles was not uncommon. 😁

I may be mistaken but I do believe that the Honda J35 engine has been around since the late 90s, so I will change the wording of the question to how many miles realistically can we expect from the Ridgeline engine to more specifically the J35 engine?

Not at all, that half a million miles obviously was optimal, but what it ultimately showed was that the TDI equipped vehicles were designed to be dependable and last, so even though ours went "only" 19 years and 400,000 miles, it still has proven just that. Actually, I am still using it as a daily driver and she has many more miles left in her if somebody can just pinpoint our current issue.

So, the under tones I am reading here is that we can expect only a fraction of that sort of reliability with the J35 equipped vehicles, though it would be nice to hear some more optimistic numbers, this does help us with what to expect for the future of our Ridgeline, which is still helpful.

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So, the under tones I am reading here is that we can expect only a fraction of that sort of reliability with the J35 equipped vehicles, though it would be nice to hear some more optimistic numbers, this does help us with what to expect for the future of our Ridgeline, which is still helpful.

Though search fails me at the moment, IIRC there's at least one post or thread here mentioning a 400k mile RL. If hearing someone say that they think it's possible to get 500k miles out of an RL is "helpful" to you in some way, consider it done.

There's a wide range of anecdotes on this forum relating 'miles' to 'troubles' (or lack thereof), more than a few in the 1G sections with multi-hundreds-of-thousand-mile numbers, more than few with much lower miles.

I'll make my message explicit - IMO the realized lifespan of any particular vehicle is dependent on so many variables, including a touch of 'luck' in manufacturing / assembly, that setting a personal expectation in terms of miles is only good for yielding one of two things: disappointment or pleasant surprise.

Personally, I don't understand how that mind-game can be "helpful".

IMO what's helpful is the realistic expectation that if an owner practices good PM and sensible driving habits (which you probably do), they'll have done all they can to maximize to probability of a long life for their vehicle. It strikes me that that's a 'helpful realistic expectation' in that it encourages a specific set of actions that can contribute to a positive outcome (it's not just a mind-game).

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Though search fails me at the moment, IIRC there's at least one post or thread here mentioning a 400k mile RL. If hearing someone say that they think it's possible to get 500k miles out of an RL is "helpful" to you in some way, consider it done.

There's a wide range of anecdotes on this forum relating 'miles' to 'troubles' (or lack thereof), more than a few in the 1G sections with multi-hundreds-of-thousand-mile numbers, more than few with much lower miles.

I'll make my message explicit - IMO the realized lifespan of any particular vehicle is dependent on so many variables, including a touch of 'luck' in manufacturing / assembly, that setting a personal expectation in terms of miles is only good for yielding one of two things: disappointment or pleasant surprise.

Personally, I don't understand how that mind-game can be "helpful".

IMO what's helpful is the realistic expectation that if an owner practices good PM and sensible driving habits (which you probably do), they'll have done all they can to maximize to probability of a long life for their vehicle. It strikes me that that's a 'helpful realistic expectation' in that it encourages a specific set of actions that can contribute to a positive outcome (it's not just a mind-game).

Well, I apologize for irking you so, I was hoping for a thread with folks sharing their positive experiences, it is unfortunate that it was taken so negatively. Though it was not the response I was hoping for, I believe that my question has been answered so you can simmer down now, no further discussion is required.

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I'm planning for 400,000 miles with my RTL. At 304,000 I am prepping for the cost of the timing belt scenario, which for me, includes plugs, coolant, and valve adjust. I am also installing al new EBC rotors and pads. (If it still drives like it does now, I will go for 500,000).

My biggest fear with my RTL is that someone will hit me and it will be totaled. I just drove it 40,000 miles this past 12 months and don't plan to slow down.

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Mileage from a G1 is completely dependent upon your particular driving style, what sort of miles you do (city/highway), how many miles you do yearly, and the level of maintenance that is done on the truck. It's completely a crap shoot, really. For me, I used to drive quite a bit - 18-20k miles per year or so. Now, I'm lucky if I do 5-6k per year. I don't get a lot of highway miles in and most of my miles are low-speed commuting. I'm very easy on vehicles, I take care of them in general, and I'm a stickler for maintenance. At 13 years old and 173k miles, my RTL is still rolling right along feeling as if it were a newer vehicle.

That being said, there have been multiple super high mileage RL's on here. I started a thread where there was one listed on autotrader that had 443k miles. Chisoxjim put 380k miles on his 06 before selling it to a mechanic. That mechanic supposedly put an alternator on it and is possibly still driving it. If you look through listings online, there are dozens of 250k+ mile RL's for sale and probably many times more of that mileage level still with their original owners. On the flip side, we've had a handful of RL's experience major issues stemming from the cylinder 4/5 thing or SMOD at under 100k miles. I'd say for the most part G1 RL's are extremely reliable machines, but it's a bit lofty to believe you're going to get 400k out of ANY vehicle without having to do some sort of major repair.

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